An easter arrival landed on the Frost HQ doorstep, a delivery from Maison Blanc. Sigh. Inside the classy box is the cutest Easter chick. Almost too cute to eat. Well, we said almost. He has been devoured now and was yummy indeed.
From Maison Blanc
Tag Archives: Food
Grill Market Lomax Review
For those healthy bunnies in West London, there is a new place in Chelsea to fill your body up with the best British produce. This is the second Grill Market site and it is situated on the ground floor of the Lomax’s flagship location. All the meat is free range, British and bred to the strictest welfare standards. Fish carries the MSC certificate and all the veg is supplied by Covent Garden. This is a unique collaboration with Lomax Chelsea and I would definitely pop in as the food is not just healthy, but also delicious. There is strictly no membership policy so anyone can drop in. Everything is free from gluten, dairy and refined sugar whenever possible. I had the free range spiced chicken with pomegranate glaze and a mix of all of the salads. It was yummy and I will definitely be going back.
We will also be reviewing an exercise class soon, so watch out for that.
Lomax Chelsea
293 Fulham Road
SW10 9PZ
@grill_market
@Thelomaxway
Parts & Labour Whitechapel Restaurant Review
Parts and Labour is the new restaurant that has just opened in Whitechapel within the Qbic London City Hotel. Parts & Labour serves modern British food and offers all day dining within a cool and vibrant space. The decor is fresh and funky, featuring Scandinavian design influences. Channelling the Jewish heritage of the Whitechapel area, Parts & Labour also serves an array of traditional Jewish dishes such as Toasted Rueben (a hot salt beef sandwich, with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese), Chicken soup with dumplings and Sabich (flat bread topped with egg, aubergine and salad).
My colleague, Paloma, and I take our seats and I order a coke. Paloma goes for a Spanish Rioja which smells amazing. She likes it. The menu looks great and it takes us a while to decide. In the end I go for something traditional: Ham & Cheddar Croquettes with Herb Mayonnaise and Paloma has the Chicken Liver Pate, Apple Chutney and Brioche. The chicken liver is creamy and soft with a delicate hint of metallic flavours. It has little chunks of onion and spread over the sweet, sticky and toasted brioche, with a lick of chutney combined gives all the right textures and tastes. My croquettes are delicious, the filling is perfect and they are just the right size. The herb mayonnaise is gorgeous and goes perfectly with the croquettes.
For our mains I have the 6oz Cheeseburger, Onion Marmalade and Chips and Paloma has the Salmon Fishcake, Buttered Spinach and Brown Shrimp Butter Sauce. My burger is AMAZING. Really good. The onion marmalade goes perfectly and you can’t go wrong with chips. The tomato ketchup comes in a cool, retro tomato. The salmon fishcake was beautifully browned and fluffy inside. The sauce was delicious, salty butter fused with spinach.
For dessert we have the Apple & Rhubarb Crumble with Custard and Chocolate Marquise with Prunes, Pistachio and Meringue. The crumble is crispy and sweet which complimented the sour taste of the rhubarb. It is tasty indeed. The Chocolate Marquise is something to behold: I don’t normally order anything with prunes or pistachio but this dish is amazing. The Chocolate Marquise is divine, the pistachio mousse is mouth-watering, the meringue is perfect and the prune sauce is good. It works well together and is a really wonderful desert. I want to eat it again.
The food is great, the hotel is quirky and cool, and the service is excellent. We loved Parts & Labour. I might even go again despite living on the opposite side of London.
https://london.qbichotels.com/en/enjoy-our-bar-and-restaurant.html
For reservations 0203 021 3300 or email: reservations@partsandlabour.london
Qbic London City Hotel
42 Adler Street,
London,
E1 1EE
Mayfair Pizza Co Restaurant Review
The Mayfair Pizza Co is in a truly beautiful part of Mayfair, Lancashire Court. One of those little hidden gems of London. I arrived on a sunny day with a friend to review. The restaurant is beautiful, refined and classy. It is a happy and relaxing setting. I order a coke and my friend has some water and we order some olives to get us going. The olives are delicious and fresh and come with salted almonds.
To start I have the Dorset Crab Salad with Apple, Avocado and my friend has the Salt & Pepper Squid with Saffron Aioli. My crab salad is very unique and comes in a crab shell. It has lots of different textures and ingredients that go together wonderfully. It is unique and tastes great. My friend, Lynn, is a fan of her squid and says it is good. She would have liked a plate however. Overall presentation is great and the service is first-class.
What we don’t have for our mains is the hottest pizza in town. The Mayfair Pizza Co have the spiciest pizza going at the moment. I didn’t try it as I am heavily pregnant and didn’t want to go into labour but it sure looked good. Read all about it via the above link. Executive Chef Michael Lecouter’s latest creation is must-try for any discerning pizza connoisseur.
For our mains I have the Chicken Milanese with Rosemary Potatoes, Red Onion Jam & Tender Stem Broccoli. Lynn has the
Fiorentina pizza which comes with Mascarpone, Spinach, Soft Boiled Egg, Parmesan, Ex Virgin Olive Oil. My chicken is good, the rosemary potatoes are perfect and so yummy, the red onion jam goes well with everything and is delicious, as is the tender stem broccoli which is perfectly cooked. Lynn loves her pizza. The soft boiled egg, rather than the traditional fried egg on top throws us initially, especially as it is cold. The pizza is good however and the soft boiled egg gives a different touch.
For dessert I have a Trio of Gelato. The ice cream is delicious. It tastes home made and if I wasn’t so full I could have had seconds and thirds. Lynn wimps out and doesn’t have dessert. In her defence she is going swimming later and I have eaten so much I would sink.
The Mayfair Co is a wonderful place to eat. Beautiful, classy and relaxing. Even the loos are beautiful. The food is top-notch and the service is impeccable. Go and see for yourself.
Mayfair Pizza Co.
4 Lancashire Court, New Bond Street,
London W1S 1EY
@mayfairpizzaco
The Drift Restaurant Review
The Drift is located in the rather trendy Heron Tower. The place is bustling with city workers and has a great vibe about it. The decor is great and has a cool, quirky and up-market feel.
Heron Tower on Bishopsgate is a rather beautiful building in the heart of the city. The Drift is brimming with quirky collectibles, hidden alcoves, a mixology table and fine dining nooks. Add in Drake & Morgan’s renowned creative cocktails and seasonal food to the mix and this is a great place to have brunch or let your hair down after a long day and enjoy some food and drinks.
We start off with some mocktails, the Zero- Raspberry and Mango Fizz. My colleague has the Juiceology- fresh orange and cranberry. Both the mocktail and juice are delicious, fresh and different.
I have the Chicken Satay with peanut sauce and prawn crackers and my colleague has the Peking Duck Flatbread with hoisin sauce and cucumber ribbons. The chicken is well cooked and succulent, the sauce is good and I like the brown prawn crackers. They add to the dish rather than feeling like a filler. The duck is an amazing, unique dish. All of the ingredients really work together and the sauce is great too.
For our mains I have the Wagyu Beef Burger. It comes with blue cheese, tomato chutney and chipped potatoes. I change the blue cheese for cheddar which the restaurant are nice about. My colleague has the Suffolk Farm Lamb Shank with Sweet Potatoe mash, rosemary jus and harissa. My burger is great and cooked well. They ask you how you like it done, this isn’t McDonalds. The tomato chutney is fresh and tastes homemade, yum. The chips are perfect and the tomato sauce and mayonnaise that comes with also tastes fresh and homemade. This is a running theme of The Drift. Things taste homemade and like they have just been cooked. My colleagues lamb is well cooked. The portion is good and the sauce is a great mix that really works.
For dessert I have the Chocolate brownie with vanilla bean ice cream and my colleague has the Wagon Wheel: toasted meringue, raspberry sorbet and shortbread. My brownie is delicious and warm. Just yummy and the ice cream goes perfectly with it. My colleagues dessert is sublime and original. So much so that I end up eating half of it. Don’t judge, I share my brownie in return.
We liked the food at The Drift. The service is excellent, the food is fresh and tasty and there is a great atmosphere. Highly recommended.
http://www.thedriftbar.co.uk/
10 Bishopsgate
EC2N 4AY
0845 468 0103
info@thedriftbar.co.uk
Are You Brave Enough To Try The Hottest Pizza At Mayfair Pizza Co?
First came Sweet Dessert Pizzas. Then came Bloody Mary Pizzas. And now posh parlour Mayfair Pizza Co. is once again lighting a fire under London with its latest slice: the Hottest Pizza.
Spiked with spice for Scoville-shattering levels of searing heat, the Hottest Pizza is made using hot sauces from cult street food favourite The Rib Man and comes adorned with an arsenal of fiery toppings sure to burn down the house.
The Hottest Pizza, priced at £14 and available from now until the end of April, is made with fresh tomato and ‘Christ On A Bike’ sauce spread on a homemade base and topped with ’Nduja Italian sausage and spicy pork rib. A generous sprinkle of dried chilli flakes and smoked jalapeño powder are added alongside mozzarella and fresh scotch bonnets before being blasted at 500°C. Finally, the punchy pizza is finished with creamy burrata, peppery rocket and a drizzle of ‘For The Love Of God’ hot sauce, sure to make your eyes water and your cheeks flush.
Executive Chef Michael Lecouter’s latest creation is must-try for any discerning pizza connoisseur.
The only question is: are you brave enough?
Mayfair Pizza Co.
4 Lancashire Court, New Bond Street,
London W1S 1EY
@mayfairpizzaco
Hakkasan Chinese New Year Menu Review | The Best of London
We have reviewed Hakkasan before and are never disappointed. This michelin-starred restaurant feels like the centre of everything. People talk about Hakkasan in hushed tones in office, they pull happy faces when you say you have been, talking about how delicious the food is. Hakkasan on Hanway Place, the original Hakkasan, is the place to see and be seen. That doesn’t mean you won’t be able to relax however. There is no pretension for all its class and the staff are very friendly and know their stuff. Hakkasan is, without doubt, the best of London. Hakkasan is where to go for traditional Cantonese cuisine.
For Chinese New Year, the year of the sheep, Hakkasan will be honouring the Chinese “Wishing Tree” tradition by collecting wishes from around the world as well as offering a nine dish festive feast perfect for family and friends. The wish collection and signature menu will be available to guests from Sunday 8th February to Sunday 1st March.
This nine dish menu starts with small eats to start.
Dim Sum, Spicy lamb lupin wrap and Golden fried soft shell crab with red chili and curry leaf.
The starters are stunning. The Dim Sum is always brilliant. Scallops, crab meat, prawn: they are just heavenly. The spicy lamb lupin wrap is perfect, there is a good heat from the sauce and the lamb is expertly cooked. It has a delicious soft texture. The fried soft crab with red chilli and curry leaf is superb. The crab is amazing and the curry leaf goes well, a wonderful and original dish.
To go with our food we have a Kumquatcha, a specialty cocktail representing good fortune, prosperity and happiness, I have a virgin one and my colleague has the real deal. Both taste amazing. A brilliant combination of Germana cachaça, Campari, Kumquat and lime.
The mains include a number of signature Hakkasan items like their Spicy prawn, Stir-fry black pepper rib eye beef with Merlot and Grilled Chilean sea bass in honey, We also have Stir-fry Lily bulb and garlic shoot and Abalone and dry scallop fried rice,
The spicy prawn has generous and delicious prawns in a yummy sauce, the Stir-fry black pepper rib eye beef with Merlot is just perfect and Grilled Chilean sea bass in honey is definitely one of the best sea bass dishes I have ever had. The Stir-fry Lily bulb and garlic shoot is as tasty as it is original and the Abalone and dry scallop fried rice is the best rice ever. I still have dreams about it. There is no bum note in this menu: all of this food is just one mouth-watering dish after another.
The desserts are as amazing as the other dishes. Stunning in their originality, a Kumquat Wishing Tree: chocolate, caramelised macadamia and cocoa rocks, and delicious chocolate treats hanging off a Kumquat tree end the meal. The dishes are out of this world. Not all Asian restaurants do dessert well. I am glad to say that Hakkasan is definitely an exception.
I also have another mocktail. Hakkasan do mocktails very well. Perfect if you don’t want to drink. If you eat from the Chinese New Year signature menu you will receive a red envelope with special gift of a complimentary cocktail or mocktail. More reason to indulge.
Hakkasan’s limited edition menu created by Michelin-starred Executive Head Chef Tong Chee Hwee includes a selection of its acclaimed signature dishes as well as a contemporary interpretation on authentic Chinese New Year fare.The Chinese New Year menu is available for £88.88 per person. A la carte items will be individually priced, starting at £12.88.
For more information on Chinese New Year at Hakkasan, please visit hakkasan.com.
Shopping in Italy by Amanda Brake, our Italian correspondent living in Le Marche
When I’m asked what it’s like shopping in Italy I realized that it’s quite a tricky question to answer because shopping in Italy isn’t always an easy task. But before you yawn, there is information about this fantastic area that I have to share with you.
Once a month we drive 20 minutes to our nearest Eurospin Supermarket where one can stock up on the basics: beans, sauces and pastes etc. , for 30c to 40c a packet.
However, we still love to visit our local markets and shops to buy fresh produce. It’s not just the food, but the experience. For example our village Force ( for-chay) has local milk from an organic free range farm and also great cheese.
Our house is surrounded by sheep who are farmed for their meat, milk and a great variety of cheeses. Many of these are sold locally at the supermarkets or the local village and town markets. Apart from Mondays you can find a local market in any one of the many villages or towns.
Our village butcher is situated on the farm itself, down a small lane. We don’t eat a great deal of meat in our family but when we do we make sure it’s good quality and here we know for sure it is. We also know that the animals have not travelled in distress.
Best of I have to explain to you the lovely free local seasonal produce we get from our neighbouring friends, anything from fresh plump cherries to carrots, peaches to lettuce, plus zucchini’s and many tomatoes, all of course naturally grown.
So you have to be a little organized but the benefits of this quality of food is worth it. What I look forward to most are the spring vegetable plant markets, so I can get on with planting my own food too. Life here is simple, but good.